Yazaru Kodoku
Yazaru Kodoku (虎蠋 蛇猿, Kodoku Yazaru) is the name granted to the current Master (主, Aruji) of the Hōzuki Castle. Having been born with a a curse from the divine, moving through life within the confines of was extremely difficult. Eventually, he was given teachings by the former master of the Hōzuki Castle, , whose very fine control over chakra proved to assist Yazaru in tempering his curse and utilizing it in a manner benefiting his village. Upon being promoted to a Jōnin, Kahyō would die due to constant use of her abilities accelerating her aging. The were aware of the nature of Yazaru's abilities and had requested he inherit Kahyō's role. Yazaru was indebted to his former mentor for the life he now lived, and so he accepted the request without any hesitation. Three years into this role, Yazaru was requested to arrest numerous insurgents who had been gathering rebels from minor villages. In confronting them and absorbing the employed in their weaponry, Yazaru's entire body was remodeled as a result of the foreign energy he was exposed to. As of now, he is one of the few Shinobi to have understood the nature of the power the Black Crown employs to fulfill its objectives, and has since cooperated with allied Shinobi to prevent their uprising from becoming a war spanning the world. Background Yazaru was born in a small settlement within to simple Chūnin-level parents: Takeshi and Suzuran. However, the instant he was born, Suzuran — Yazaru's mother — died from the process of childbirth. This was an anomaly not seen in the modern world, especially given that she had no such physical weakness that would cause her to die the instant after childbirth. The cause, however, would soon be found within Yazaru. Due to a chakra-based anomaly within the early stages of Suzuran's pregnancy, Yazaru became what is ordinarily classified as a Chakra Mutant. While he was cared for by the village in order to allow him to grow up, the people who cared for him consistently changed due to being incapable of being around his presence for more than a week without feeling terribly nauseous. As he became old enough to sustain himself, the village would cease all contact with him — besides the — who would soon understand the cause for his condition: the Curse of the Wallowing Vulture. Despite this new knowledge, it did nothing to improve the situation that Yazaru and the village had been placed in. After all, people who came close to Yazaru for even moments began to feel immediately fatigued due to the growing potency of his abilities. At this point in time, the Village Head had contacted , a neighboring village, for some advice on how to deal with the situation. Gaara, the Kazekage at the time, had advised the Village Head to bring Yazaru to the village for inspection and a temporary cure, which he had eagerly accepted. Only a day afterwards, their transportation was arranged and they left to travel through the desert to get to Sunagakure. Due to the close proximity of Sunagakure, the journey had only taken 2 days. However, this was a purposeful delay in order to enable Yazaru and the Village Head safe passage through maintaining distance. During this time, Yazaru found that the Village Head — who finally revealed his name as Satō — would actually try and make conversation with him. Yazaru, if anything, was shocked by this development. He was so accustomed to others treating him as a demon that being thought of as a human, even if momentarily, was a concept that he couldn't understand at all. However, while he felt happy by the prospect, these moments were very few and far in-between. After all, Yazaru's very existence plagued him and the people he wished to be companions with. However, in learning that none of the villagers truly hated Yazaru, but rather, wished he could be cured of this curse, Yazaru's perception of his own world had seemingly taken a completely different turn. In his isolation, Yazaru had ended up forgoing any attempts to understand people around him. This lead him to misinterpret the villagers' isolation as a form of fear and hatred, when it really was just considering Yazaru's own wellbeing. While drowned in his thoughts, Yazaru and Satō ended up reaching the outskirts of Sunagakure, where a small tent of sorts had been made specifically to deal with Yazaru's condition, supervised by the Kazekage himself. They immediately placed Yazaru within the shelter and in the center of an elaborate pentagram, where chanting and hand seals proceeded to occur for an extended period of time. The first set of these chants seemingly reduced Yazaru's absorption range to the absolute minimum, thereby enabling them to seep their own chakra into his body to act as a seal for this very absorption. Upon completion, Yazaru managed to seal the process of his absorption but noted it as a very painful process, leaving him to become extremely weak in response to his body not gaining a steady supply of chakra. Yazaru's decision was to return to Kusagakure in order to study the way of the . While he knew that his body was incapable of the same feats as conventional Shinobi, the young man also understood that his destiny was not to lie in bed forever with a curse that caused him excruciating pain. While only 14 years old, Yazaru delved into the depths of Shinobi theory. However, as much as he studied and studied, his body would simply not comply with the techniques and maneuvers the Kusagakure Shinobi placed in front of him. While he could, word-to-word, understand each technique's execution and weakness, he simply did not have the potential to replicate them. This continued for a number of years, until the point where all documented techniques, maneuvers and the like in Kusagakure and neighboring villages had been memorized by him. Of course, this was to no avail. Much to his surprise, he was approached by one of the villagers who had suggested he reach Hōzuki Castle and seek the guidance of its Master, . Kahyō was a remarkable user whose employment of its techniques was enough to replace the coveted Fire Release: Heavenly Prison of . Having found someone who had the potential to overcome this disability, Yazaru went forth on his journey to become a true Shinobi. Although negotiations with Kahyō were a success, Yazaru was to be isolated from his village and instead spend time as Kahyō's assistant in the prison. In addition to being taught how to control his abilities, Yazaru was given training in applications that would enable him to control the prisoners even during the absence of Kahyō. :More Coming Soon... Personality Appearance Synopsis Abilities Trivia Quotes Behind the Scenes Yazaru is an alternate universe counterpart of Mukūrō. As such, his personality and abilities are mostly the same, with some minor changes. Category:Males Category:Characters Category:Hōzuki Castle